Why male orangutans do not kill infants

Infanticide is widespread among mammals, is particularly common in primates, and has been shown to be an adaptive male strategy under certain conditions. Although no infanticides in wild orangutans have been reported to date, several authors have suggested that infanticide has been an important selection pressure influencing orangutan behavior and the evolution of orangutan social systems. In this paper, we critically assess this suggestion. We begin by investigating whether wild orangutans have been studied for a sufficiently long period that we might reasonably expect to have detected infanticide if it occurs. We consider whether orangutan females exhibit counterstrategies typically employed by other mammalian females. We also assess the hypothesis that orangutan females form special bonds with particular “protector males” to guard against infanticide. Lastly, we discuss socioecological reasons why orangutan males may not benefit from infanticide. We conclude that there is limited evidence for female counterstrategies and little support for the protector male hypothesis. Aspects of orangutan paternity certainty, lactational amenorrhea, and ranging behavior may explain why infanticide is not a strategy regularly employed by orangutan males on Sumatra or Borneo.     

Identifying Urban Features from LiDAR for a High‐Resolution Urban Hydrologic Model

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), is relatively inexpensive, provides high spatial resolution sampling at great accuracy, and can be used to generate surface terrain and land cover datasets for urban areas. These datasets are used to develop high‐resolution hydrologic models necessary to resolve complex drainage networks in urban areas. This work develops a five‐step algorithm to generate indicator fields for tree canopies, buildings, and artificial structures using Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS‐GIS), and a common computing language, Matrix Laboratory. The 54 km² study area in Parker, Colorado consists of twenty‐four 1,500 × 1,500 m LiDAR subsets at 1 m resolution with varying degrees of urbanization. The algorithm correctly identifies 96% of the artificial structures within the study area; however, application success is dependent upon urban extent. Urban land use fractions below 0.2 experienced an increase in falsely identified building locations. ParFlow, a three‐dimensional, grid‐based hydrological model, uses these building and artificial structure indicator fields and digital elevation model for a hydrologic simulation. The simulation successfully develops the complex drainage network and simulates overland flow on the impervious surfaces (i.e., along the gutters and off rooftops) made possible through this spatial analysis process.     

Effects of water content on reactive transport of 85Sr in Chernobyl sand columns

It is known that under unsaturated conditions, the transport of solutes can deviate from ideal advective-dispersive behaviour even for macroscopically homogeneous porous materials. Causes may include physical non-equilibrium, sorption kinetics, non-linear sorption, and the irregular distribution of sorption sites. We have performed laboratory experiments designed to identify the processes responsible for the non-ideality of radioactive Sr transport observed under unsaturated flow conditions in an Aeolian sandy deposit from the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Miscible displacement experiments were carried out at various water contents and corresponding flow rates in a laboratory model system. Results of our experiments have shown that breakthrough curves of a conservative tracer exhibit a higher degree of asymmetry when the water content decreases than at saturated water content and same Darcy velocity. It is possible that velocity variations caused by heterogeneities at the macroscopic scale are responsible for this situation. Another explanation is that molecular diffusion drives the solute mass transfer between mobile and immobile water regions, but the surface of contact between these water regions is small. At very low concentrations, representative of a radioactive Sr contamination of the pore water, sorption and physical disequilibrium dominate the radioactive Sr transport under unsaturated flow conditions. A sorption reaction is described by a cation exchange mechanism calibrated under fully saturated conditions. The sorption capacity, as well as the exchange coefficients are not affected by desaturation. The number of accessible exchange sites was calculated on the basis that the solid remained in contact with water and that the fraction of solid phase in contact with mobile water is numerically equal to the proportion of mobile water to total water content. That means that for this type of sandy soil, the nature of mineral phases is the same in advective and non-advective domains. So sorption reaction parameters can be estimated from more easily conducted saturated experiments, but hydrodynamic behaviour must be characterized by conservative tracer experiments under unsaturated flow conditions.     

Railway-Associated Attractants as Potential Contaminants for Wildlife

Environmental Management - Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) appear to be attracted to natural and anthropogenic forage along railways, which may increase collision vulnerability, but also potentially...     

Methane recovery from acidic tofu wastewater using an anaerobic fixed-bed reactor with bamboo as the biofilm carrier

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Wastewater generated during acid coagulation in tofu processing has high organic concentrations and low pH. Several small industries in Indonesia...     

Study on Properties of Poly(urethane-ester) Synthesized from Prepolymers of ε-Caprolactone and 2,2-Dimethyl-1,3-Propanediol Monomers and Their Biodegradability

Poly(urethane-ester) was prepared by polymerization of 4,4′-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) (MDI) and prepolymers of ε-caprolactone and 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol monomers P(CL-DP) with various chain lengths as polyol sources. Characterizations of poly(urethane-ester) were carried out by analysis of functional groups (FTIR), thermal properties (DTA/TGA), mechanical properties (Tensile tester), crystallinity (XRD), and biodegradability. The chain length of prepolymers used in polymerization has a significant effect in properties of poly(urethane-ester) as well as their biodegradability. The formation of poly(urethane-ester) was indicated by the presence of new absorption peaks at wave number of 3,348.2 and 1,596.9 cm^?1 for urethane (–NH–) and aromatic groups in chain of polymers, respectively. The increase chain length of prepolymer used in polymerization with 4,4′-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) was observed the increase thermal property and crystallinity of poly(urethane-ester). However, the maximum mechanical property and also biodegradability in activated sludge were observed in poly(urethane-ester) prepared by polymerization of 4,4′-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) (MDI) and P(CL-DP) prepolymers with DP/CL ratio of 1/20. Apparently, the amorphous parts of polymers are rapidly decomposed by enzymes of microorganisms, so the crystallinity on the whole of poly(urethane-ester) increases after incubation time of 30 days.     

Sexual coercion by male chimpanzees shows that female choice may be more apparent than real

The extent to which active female mating preferences influence male reproductive success in mammals is unclear, particularly for promiscuously breeding species like chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Previous studies from multiple long-term study sites have shown that female chimpanzees mate more restrictively around ovulation, and this has been taken as evidence for female choice. However, none of these studies rigorously evaluated the alternative hypothesis that restrictive mating results not from unconstrained choice, but in response to coercive mate guarding, in which males use punishment and intimidation to reduce female promiscuity and promote their own mating interests. Nor did they consider evidence for the potential genetic or phenotypic benefits that females might be choosing. Using 11 years of data from the Kanyawara community in Kibale National Park, Uganda, we previously demonstrated that males achieve elevated mating success with those females toward whom they direct high levels of aggression. Here we extend those findings to show that even female copulatory approaches, which have previously been attributed to female choice, are correlated with male aggression. Specifically, individual females at our site initiated periovulatory copulations most frequently with the males who were most aggressive toward them throughout their cycles. Those males showed high rates of aggression toward females throughout estrus, despite achieving high copulation rates, demonstrating a continuing conflict of interest over the exclusivity of mating access. Because sexual coercion is potentially widespread in primates and other mammals, our results stress the importance of considering the influence of male aggression in studies of female choice.     

The Impact of the Hyperacid Ijen Crater Lake. Part II: A Total Diet Study

In Asembagus (East Java, Indonesia), surface water is contaminated with effluent from the hyperacid Ijen Crater Lake. In a previous study, we reported that food crops irrigated with this water had increased concentrations of various elements. Here, we present a total diet study for adults and 6-year-old children to determine if the mean daily intake of a broad range of elements is safe and adequate. For children, the intake of B, Mg, Mn and V is high with Hazard Quotients (HQ) of 1.1 (B), 1.4 (Mn) and 1.4 (V), respectively (no TDI is available for Mg). For Mn, the daily intake is high due to the consumption of locally produced rice. Drinking water is the main source of B, Mg and V. For adults, the intake of Mg, Mn and V is also high but HQ values are ≤0.7. For both children and adults, the intake of Ca, Zn and particularly Fe is below the RNI (Fe intake is 90% below the RNI for women). It is concluded the mean intake of elements is unbalanced and Fe deficiency is probably the most serious health problem. Toxic effects cannot be fully excluded since deficiency of essential elements such as Ca, Fe and Zn can increase the absorption and retention of various elements.